CRITICAL READING

 What is critical reading?

Critical reading is an important precursor to critical writing. This Study Guide explains why critical reading is important, and gives some ideas about how you might become a more critical reader. Other Study Guides you may find useful are What is critical writing? Using paragraphs and The art of editing.

What is critical reading?

The most characteristic features of critical reading are that you will:

·      examine the evidence or arguments presented;

·      check out any influences on the evidence or arguments;

·      check out the limitations of study design or focus;

·      examine the interpretations made; and

·      decide to what extent you are prepared to accept the authors’ arguments, opinions, or conclusions.

Why do we need to take a critical approach to reading?

1.      Regardless of how objective, technical, or scientific the subject matter, the author(s) will have made many decisions during the research and writing process, and each of these decisions is a potential topic for examination and debate, rather than for blind acceptance.

2.      You need to be prepared to step into the academic debate and to make your own evaluation of how much you are willing to accept what you read.

3.      A practical starting point therefore, is to consider anything you read not as fact, but as the argument of the writer. Taking this starting point you will be ready to engage in critical reading.

Critical reading does not have to be all negative

The aim of critical reading is not to find fault, but to assess the strength of the evidence and the argument. It is just as useful to conclude that a study, or an article, presents very strong evidence and a well-reasoned argument, as it is to identify the studies or articles that are weak.

Evidence

Depending on the kind of writing it is, and the discipline in which it sits, different kinds of evidence will be presented for you to examine.

At the technical and scientific end of the spectrum, relevant evidence may include information on: measurements, timing, equipment, control of extraneous factors, and careful following of standard procedures. Specific guidance will be available within specialties on what to look for.

At the other end of the spectrum is writing where there is clearer scope for personal interpretation, for example:

 analysis of individuals’ experiences of healthcare;

 the translation of a text from a foreign language; or

 the identification and analysis of a range of themes in a novel.

In these cases the evidence may include items such as quotes from interviews, extracts of text, and diagrams showing how themes might connect.

The nature of the evidence presented at these two extremes is different, but in both cases you need to look for the rationale for the selection and interpretation of the evidence presented, and the rationale for the construction of the argument.

Broadening the definition of evidence

This Study Guide takes a broad view of evidence: it maintains that all that you read can be considered as evidence, not purely the actual data collected/presented. This encompasses:

·      the report of the context within which the data were collected or created;

·      the choice of the method for data collection or selection;

·      the audit trail for the analysis of the data i.e.: the decisions made and the steps in the analysis process;

·      the rationale for the interpretations made and the conclusions drawn;

·      the relevance of, and the use made of the theoretical perspective, ideology, or philosophy that is underpinning the argument.

Linking evidence to argument

On its own, evidence cannot contribute to academic debate. The interpretation and presentation of that evidence within an argument allows the evidence to make a contribution.

The term ‘argument’ in this context means the carefully constructed rationale for the enquiry, and for the place of its results within the academic arena. It will explain for example:

·      why the authors considered that what they did was worth doing;

·      why it was worth doing in that particular way;

·      why the data collected, or the material selected, were the most appropriate;

·      how the conclusions drawn link to the wider context of their enquiry.

Even in the most technical and scientific disciplines, the presentation of argument will always involve elements that can be examined and questioned. For example, you could ask:

·      Why did the writer select that particular topic of enquiry in the first place?

·      Why did the writer decide to use that particular methodology, choose that specific method, and conduct the work in that way?

·      Why did the writer select that particular process of analysis?

Note taking

As you read, it can be helpful to use a table to record the information that you know you will need later. In addition to the usual bibliographical details, you can devise your own list of extra information you want to collect at the initial reading stage. Some suggestions are given below.

Two important points about using such tables are:

·      it is essential that you devise your own list of information to collect from each source, based on what you know you will need to comment upon; and

·      realistically, it is probably best not to try to collect this information from every single source you use, only from those you decide to refer to in your report or assignment. Otherwise it could really slow down your background reading, and result in the collection of a mass of material that you never use.

Descriptive details you may want to record about sources

Setting	Type of data
Sample size	Use of theory
Sample profile	Equipment
Follow up	Style of writing
Statistics used	Measurements
Methods	Sources of bias
Questions raised	Limitations
Main arguments	Intended audience

Some interpretative questions you may need to ask about sources

These are questions that need more input from you as the critical reader. You will need to make judgements about your answers, and will need to record the reasons for your answers. This list is a mix of arts and science-based questions, as there are several areas of common interest.

·      How well-developed are the themes or arguments?

·      Did the theoretical perspective used introduce any potential bias?

·      Are you convinced by the interpretations presented?

·      Are the conclusions supported firmly by the preceding argument?

·      How appropriate are the comparisons that are used?

·      Did the response options, or measurement categories or techniques used affect the data that were collected?

·      Have any ethical considerations been adequately addressed?

If you take a critical approach right from the start of your reading and note taking, it can save a lot of time later on. When you come to write your assignment or thesis, you will need to comment on the validity of the writing that you refer to. So, if you have kept a systematic record of the results of your critical reading, you will be able to refer to it easily. If you have not, you will find yourself wasting a lot of time re-reading material, and re-reviewing the evidence presented.

Helpful guidance from other sources

There are many sources of guidance on how to engage in critical reading: some are in books on general study skills; others are on the internet. Chapter 10 of the ‘Study Skills Handbook’ by Stella Cottrell (2003) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, is particularly recommended. The following questions are based on material from that chapter:

·      Does the writing assume a causal connection when there may not be one?

·      Are general conclusions drawn based on only a few examples?

·      Are inappropriate comparisons being made?

·      Might there be other explanations apart from the one proposed?

·      Are there any hidden assumptions that need to be questioned?

·      Is enough evidence presented to allow readers to draw their own conclusions?

·      Does the line of reasoning make sense?

CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES

CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES

There are 7 critical Reading Strategies:

1.      Previewing: Learning about a text before really reading it.

Previewing enables readers to get a sense of what the text is about and how it is organized before reading it closely. This simple strategy includes seeing what you can learn from the headnotes or other introductory material, skimming to get an overview of the content and organization, and identifying the rhetorical situation.

2.      Contextualizing: Placing a text in its historical, biographical, and cultural contexts.

When you read a text, you read it through the lens of your own experience. Your understanding of the words on the page and their significance is informed by what you have come to know and value from living in a particular time and place. But the texts you read were all written in the past, sometimes in a radically different time and place. To read critically, you need to contextualize, to recognize the differences between your contemporary values and attitudes and those represented in the text.  

3.      Questioning to understand and remember: Asking questions about the content.

As students, you are accustomed (I hope) to teachers asking you questions about your reading. These questions are designed to help you understand a reading and respond to it more fully, and often this technique works. When you need to understand and use new information though it is most beneficial if you write the questions, as you read the text for the first time. With this strategy, you can write questions any time, but in difficult academic readings, you will understand the material better and remember it longer if you write a question for every paragraph or brief section. Each question should focus on a main idea, not on illustrations or details, and each should be expressed in your own words, not just copied from parts of the paragraph.

 

4.      Reflecting on challenges to your beliefs and values: Examining your personal responses.

The reading that you do for this class might challenge your attitudes, your unconsciously held beliefs, or your positions on current issues. As you read a text for the first time, mark an X in the margin at each point where you feel a personal challenge to your attitudes, beliefs, or status. Make a brief note in the margin about what you feel or about what in the text created the challenge. Now look again at the places you marked in the text where you felt personally challenged. What patterns do you see?

 

5.      Outlining and summarizing: Identifying the main ideas and restating them in your own words.

Outlining and summarizing are especially helpful strategies for understanding the content and structure of a reading selection. Whereas outlining reveals the basic structure of the text, summarizing synopsizes a selection's main argument in brief. Outlining may be part of the annotating process, or it may be done separately (as it is in this class). The key to both outlining and summarizing is being able to distinguish between the main ideas and the supporting ideas and examples. The main ideas form the backbone, the strand that holds the various parts and pieces of the text together. Outlining the main ideas helps you to discover this structure. When you make an outline, don't use the text's exact words. Summarizing begins with outlining, but instead of merely listing the main ideas, a summary recomposes them to form a new text. Whereas outlining depends on a close analysis of each paragraph, summarizing also requires creative synthesis. Putting ideas together again -- in your own words and in a condensed form -- shows how reading critically can lead to deeper understanding of any text.  

6.      Evaluating an argument: Testing the logic of a text as well as its credibility and emotional impact.

All writers make assertions that they want you to accept as true. As a critical reader, you should not accept anything on face value but to recognize every assertion as an argument that must be carefully evaluated. An argument has two essential parts: a claim and support. The claim asserts a conclusion -- an idea, an opinion, a judgment, or a point of view -- that the writer wants you to accept. The support includes reasons (shared beliefs, assumptions, and values) and evidence (facts, examples, statistics, and authorities) that give readers the basis for accepting the conclusion. When you assess an argument, you are concerned with the process of reasoning as well as its truthfulness (these are not the same thing). At the most basic level, in order for an argument to be acceptable, the support must be appropriate to the claim and the statements must be consistent with one another.

 

7.      Comparing and contrasting related readings: Exploring likenesses and differences between texts to understand them better.

Many of the authors we read are concerned with the same issues or questions, but approach how to discuss them in different ways. Fitting a text into an ongoing dialectic helps increase understanding of why an author approached a particular issue or question in the way he or she did.

THE AUDIO-LINGUAL TEACHING METHOD

The Audio-lingual Teaching Method

This teaching technique was initially called the Army Method, and was the first to be based on linguistic theory and behavioral psychology.

Explanation

Based on Skinner’s Behaviorism theory, it assumed that a human being can be trained using a system of reinforcement. Correct behavior receives positive feedback, while errors receive negative feedback.

This approach to learning is similar to the Direct Method, in that the lesson takes place entirely in the target language. Emphasis is on the acquisition of patterns in common everyday dialogue.

The Audio-lingual Method was widely used in the 1950s and 1960s, and the emphasis was not on the understanding of words, but rather on the acquisition of structures and patterns in common everyday dialogue. These patterns are elicited, repeated and tested until the responses given by the student in the foreign language are automatic.

Some characteristics of this method are:

• Drills are used to teach structural patterns
• Set phrases are memorized with a focus on intonation
• Grammatical explanations are kept to a minimum
• Vocabulary is taught in context
• Audio-visual aids are used
• Focus is on pronunciation
• Correct responses are positively reinforced immediately

Modern Usage

The Audio-lingual Method is still in use today, though normally as a part of individual lessons rather than as the foundation of the course. These types of lessons can be popular as they are relatively simple, from the teacher’s point of view, and the learner always knows what to expect.

Some of the most famous supporters of this method were Giorgio Shenker, who promoted guided self learning with the Shenker method in Italy, and Robin Callan, who created the Callan method.

Developments & Problems

This extensive memorization, repetition and over-learning of patterns was the key to the method’s success, as students could often see immediate results, but it was also its weakness. It was discovered that language was not acquired through a process of habit formation.

The method’s insistence on repetition and memorization of standard phrases ignored the role of context and knowledge in language learning. As the study of linguistics developed, it was discovered that language was not acquired through a process of habit formation, and that errors were not necessarily bad.

It was also claimed that the methodology did not deliver an improvement in communicative ability that lasted over the long term.

GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD

The grammar translation method is a method of teaching foreign languages derived from the classical (sometimes called traditional) method of teaching Greek and Latin. In grammar-translation classes, students learn grammatical rules and then apply those rules by translating sentences between the target language and the native language. Advanced students may be required to translate whole texts word-for-word. The method has two main goals: to enable students to read and translate literature written in the target language, and to further students’ general intellectual development.

Principles and goals

There are two main goals to grammar-translation classes. One is to develop students’ reading ability to a level where they can read literature in the target language. The other is to develop students’ general mental discipline. The users of foreign language wanted simply to note things of their interest in the literature of foreign languages. Therefore, this method focuses on reading and writing and has developed techniques which facilitate more or less the learning of reading and writing only. As a result, speaking and listening are overlooked.

Method

Grammar-translation classes are usually conducted in the students’ native language. Grammar rules are learned deductively; students learn grammar rules by rote, and then practice the rules by doing grammar drills and translating sentences to and from the target language. More attention is paid to the form of the sentences being translated than to their content. When students reach more advanced levels of achievement, they may translate entire texts from the target language. Tests often consist of the translation of classical texts.

There is not usually any listening or speaking practice, and very little attention is placed on pronunciation or any communicative aspects of the language. The skill exercised is reading, and then only in the context of translation.

Materials

The mainstay of classroom materials for the grammar-translation method is the textbook. Textbooks in the 19th century attempted to codify the grammar of the target language into discrete rules for students to learn and memorize. A chapter in a typical grammar-translation textbook would begin with a bilingual vocabulary list, after which there would be grammar rules for students to study and sentences for them to translate.  Some typical sentences from 19th-century textbooks are as follows:

The philosopher pulled the lower jaw of the hen.

My sons have bought the mirrors of the Duke.

The cat of my aunt is more treacherous than the dog of your uncle.

Reception

The method by definition has a very limited scope. Because speaking or any kind of spontaneous creative output was missing from the curriculum, students would often fail at speaking or even letter writing in the target language. A noteworthy quote describing the effect of this method comes from Bahlsen, who was a student of Plötz, a major proponent of this method in the 19th century. In commenting about writing letters or speaking he said he would be overcome with "a veritable forest of paragraphs, and an impenetrable thicket of grammatical rules."

According to Richards and Rodgers, the grammar-translation has been rejected as a legitimate language teaching method by modern scholars:

Though it may be true to say that the Grammar-Translation Method is still widely practiced, it has no advocates. It is a method for which there is no theory. There is no literature that offers a rationale or justification for it or that attempts to relate it to issues in linguistics, psychology, or educational theory.

Influence

The grammar-translation method was the standard way languages were taught in schools from the 17th to the 19th century. Despite attempts at reform from Roger Ascham, Montaigne, Comenius and John Locke, no other methods gained any significant popularity during this time.

Later, theorists such as Vietor, Passy, Berlitz, and Jespersen began to talk about what a new kind of foreign language instruction needed, shedding light on what the grammar translation was missing. They supported teaching the language, not about the language, and teaching in the target language, emphasizing speech as well as text. Through grammar translation, students lacked an active role in the classroom, often correcting their own work and strictly following the textbook.

Despite all of these drawbacks, the grammar-translation method is still the most used method all over the world in language teaching. This is not surprising as most language proficiency books and tests are in the format of grammar-translation method; and henceforth the use of the method continues.

References

Chastain, Kenneth. The Development of Modern Language Skills: Theory to Practice. Philadelphia: Center for Curriculum Development,1971.

Rippa, S. Alexander 1971. Education in a Free Society, 2nd. Edition. New York: David McKay Company, 1971.

Richards, Jack C.; Rodgers, Theodore S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.

Rivers, Wilga M. Teaching Foreign Language Skills, 2nd Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.